They say a picture is worth pages of description. True if pictures are available. Two thousand years ago cameras were as remote from man's imagination as 'beam me up, Scotty' is today. So how do we know what Julia looked like? Pages of description and numerous statues?
Verbal descriptions tell us Julia had jet black hair with a white streak over her left eye. Her skin was fair, her body slender and well proportioned. All these portrayals do not give us what one Paparazzo photograph gives. But do the specifics of looks matter? Brown eyes or blue eyes? Brunette hair or blonde hair? Or is mental acuity more important?
If we say yes, then it is Julia's fiery and ambitious nature, her intelligence and passion for her studies that matter. That is what put her in the forefront of a new post war generation, determined to free itself from tradition.
It was this side of Julia that captured my imagination. As did three other remarkable women, Tanaquil and Tullia, queens of early Rome, and Cartimandua, the Celtic Queen who was an ally of Rome.
Each account is available as a PDF file at Ionicbooks.com.
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